GN'R Fans. How do we Stack Up?

[Buddha_Master]

I was friends with this dude in the 90's, who was a hardcore Korn fan. Got a Korn tattoo and shit. I used to have a notebook in Junior High that I had paper in the cover sleeve with nothing but Lyrics to different GN'R songs I wrote on there. This isn't about me though but, fandom in general. I know certain Rock bands have very outspoken fans. Some have fans that have changed their entire personal style, to reflect the image of the band. Then, there is the whole Beatlemania thing...

GN'R fans have seen a drastic change since I was in 7th Grade, Junior high school (I am 35 now).

Right now though, I think there is something really cool about the modern day GN'R fans. Back in the day, I remember clearly walking down one of the halls, and this Mexican dude was singing Paradise City with a very heavy accent. It was hilarious. The love for Guns N' Fucking Roses was coming from everywhere. A couple Goth chicks where all into NIN, and were way too cool to dig on this monster fucking Rock N' Roll band. I wanted to bang one of them, even though it pissed me off that they didn't dig GNR. It wasn't meant to be and really, fuck her anyway.

2010

It is almost like we are back in the 80's/early 90's L.A. Rock club scene where we just discovered this kick ass new band that completely owns and...  nobody knows about them (yet?).

The truth is, is that no matter how small a group we are today, I think we are maybe more passionate then ever. Sometimes you can get caught up in some crazy hype. Get swept up in that shit, and you totally think you love something until, later on when the truth sinks in and you realize the shit is really lame, and what the fuck were you thinking? But this is now what? 2 years we have had Chinese Democracy. I just fell in love with the album all over again big time on my ride home from work. Blasting it, with my trucks subwoofer turned way up. It was bumping like a motherfucker. So awesome. The music and the production of it... perfect. I was loving it like it was the first time. And you know what? It was only 2 days since I heard it last. Meditate on that shit.

Never has music had such a hold on me. This is one of the few times that I really don't give a fuck that others don't feel the same. That is there problem. But I know, others like in here, feel the exact same way. That this album is also the story of overcoming the impossible. And it makes us so personally proud of Axl. We all feel that this isn't just beautiful masterfully sublime music but, it is also a gift. I don't think very many fans of other bands have been so personally affected by one specific album. Not like we have. Not like how we have been by Chinese Democracy. Its become part of the very fabric of our being. We may be a small group comparatively but, there is something really special about us. We are a very different kind of fan I think.

[One.In.A.Million]

Wow, you said everything perfectly, and I agree 100%.

Guns N' Roses are my life, they are the reason I'm here today and they have got me through alot. Chinese Democracy is the holy grail for me, start to finish it's like an audio version of the bible for GN'R fans. I also feel GN'R fans are very special as well, we seem so passionate, and it's an honour to be apart of it. 

[Ignacio]

I agree too. Thanks for sharing such special toughts Buddha_Master

I used to try made my friends listen CD but now I just keep it for myself  The fact is that it seems to me that people just tends to prejudge CD without even listening seriously to its music just because of that is "not gnr anymore" shit.

If only they will listen CD.... Oh well...

[willow]

Well when I first saw this thread I thought here we go again. But very nice post. And good point.
I for one have always been very into music. I don't play or sing but simply love the passion it brings too me. I can honestly say if it wasn't for music I wouldn't be living.
And yes I think GNR fans really are some of the best. Yes we will always have different types of fans {orignal line up, new line ups and those of us that have been there from the bigging and plan on staying to the end} But simple all that  matters is that we are fans and we seem too stick together in the end.
amyl

[Voodoochild]

I still listen to the album almost daily. Yesterday I felt in love again for There Was A Time when suddenly I related to some of the lyrics. Thats what makes it such a special record to me: it makes me feel in love foe the songs again and again.

[bigcash2002]

I think in general the GNR fanbase has shrunk since the 80/90's.  It is hard not to
However, I think GNR has a very loyal, patient and optimistic fanbase these days

[Halo69]

Wow, you said everything perfectly, and I agree 100%.

Guns N' Roses are my life, they are the reason I'm here today and they have got me through alot. Chinese Democracy is the holy grail for me, start to finish it's like an audio version of the bible for GN'R fans. I also feel GN'R fans are very special as well, we seem so passionate, and it's an honour to be apart of it. 

+1 Perfect!

[big_machine]

"We are a very different kind of fan I think"


fuck yeah !!!!!!!!!!

im sure AXL put all of his love on the music he give to the fans !!!!!!!!!!!!!

 metallica, u2 , aerosmith and many more ...they are great....but they cant be compare to the love and soul axl.

[BlowUpYourVideo]

Maybe I'm cyncial, but I've never really 'felt' a connection with a band. Any band. GNR will always be special to me, in that they were the first band I properly liked. I liked CD (maybe not as much as some people here, there were one or two parts I wasn't crazy about) but really on a musical level, not because it 'said' anything to me. And that's not a knock on Axl and co, that's just how I am with most bands.

Maybe it's because us young 'uns today don't really have and bands like The Beatles or Zeppelin or GNR or Nirvana to call our own. No, emo bands who are loved by a bunch of 14 year-olds don't count.

I think the fact that GNR aren't exactly the most active of bands has something to do with why some fans are crazy very loyal. Whenever something happens, people take notice and grab hold of it, because who knows when the next 'thing' will happen??....

[Axlative]

I think we're special in a pretty unique way. Maybe not unique, but for a band of this scale it's pretty rare.

We've been in a place where we've practically have had zero solid evidence that the band will be ever again. Record again or perform again. So basically we're now in a position where something we love was virtually taken away and we all(?) felt the pain for the loss. Even with the constant rumors & hopes, there simply was nothing solid to say GNR wasn't over. Especially with Axl's radio silence. But eventually it was "returned" to us and now we can appreciate what we have even better. Like the saying goes, you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone. We're now lucky to really know what we had then and still have it today!!! And while what we have now may not be exactly what we had earlier, we have something equally good or even better!

Sure there's reunions and stuff with gazillion other bands, but I think with Axl we all know had he decided to pack it in, it would've been over for good. And I like it that way. No lukewarm reunions or anything like so many others have done. Be or don't be. No half-ass compromises. Not with this legacy!

[Jdog0830]

Buddha_Master I couldn't have said it better myself!!!!

This does apply with all the new younger fans as well trust me I have seen the changes from them.

Joe

[Annie]

Great post Buddha. We are what Uncle Axl referred to in 2006 at the HAMMERSTEIN Ballroom. DIEHARDS. All bands that enjoy a following have their diehards. I think you become a loyal diehard fan when an artform truly touches your soul at a significant time in your life. I have had many phases, Madonna, Twilight , POTO, WICKED etc, but only GNR has held a spell over me since 1992! And I still love Chinese Democracy as much as the first day I bought it! I'll even go see a movie if it has a GNR song in it.

[One.In.A.Million]

Also I would like to add, I discovered GN'R in 2004 (I'm 21). I loved the new band and was downloading everything from the 2002 tour and obviously Rock In Rio 2001. So when GN'R announced the warm up shows in May of 06, it was like the second coming of Christ in my eyes. I couldn't believe that GN'R, a legendary band were doing shows again. And since then I have been lucky enough to see 14 shows, so that's how happy I am to see GN'R live.

I think this is why GN'R attracts so many younger fans as well. It's because they want to experience and be apart of something legendary in the form of Guns N' Roses. Axl said this same thing in a radio interview with kroq in 06. Which was people thought GN'R had a potential, and now they are back and touring, fans want to be apart of that and experience it for themselves.

[GypsySoul]

Before the Canadian shows earlier this year, there was a teaser promotion for the "surprise" band that was about to announce their tour.  This 'teaser promotion' literally ONLY showed the lead singer's mouth n' teeth.  Me and I'm sure every other GNR fan recognized instantly exactly who it was and I posted this ....

How many other bands can boast that their fans know that they're the "surprise" announcement because we recognize dental work!!! 

 

Now if this doesn't prove GNR have a rabid fanbase then I don't know what does!!!   

[Sillything]

Yeah!

[D]

we are by far the greatest fans period point blank.

the most loyal and the most hardcore.

i don't think many bands would have fans hanging around through the lineup changes, the delays, lack of communication during the dark period etc.

Its easy to be a fan of something through the ups and great times. We have shown we are true fans during good and bad.

[jazjme]

It really is what you give, and what you get, and as a long PROUD GNR fan, through the years helping others, understanding the dynamics and really understanding the awesome feelings and emotions that come from the music, makes it all worth this journey. And I'm on the "Nightrain", till it pulls into its final stop!

[Farid Bak]

Its been one hell of a ride and I hope it keeps going for as long as I live
  Thanks for voicing many of our feelings and good job puting into words- Cause that sometime fails on my side.
Been a fan of GNR since AFD got to Mexico back in the 80's and im so happy to still feel such strong emotions conected to the past present and future of this band and its glourious music.
  for those who feel it, cheers I think your life is richer cause of it
And to Axl and the band well lets just say before I met guns I used to alwayscomplain that I had missed the epic acts liek Floyd, The Doors mong others. Now im very happy this is my lifetime and im sharing it with Axl and the guns.

[Axl4Prez2004]

we are by far the greatest fans period point blank.

the most loyal and the most hardcore.

i don't think many bands would have fans hanging around through the lineup changes, the delays, lack of communication during the dark period etc.

Its easy to be a fan of something through the ups and great times. We have shown we are true fans during good and bad.

Ditto!   

[BlowUpYourVideo]

Hmm, all the years of silence and non-activity is a good point. I got into GNR about 2005/6, so I haven't had to sit through all that. I guess waiting all that time for CD is why some are more hardcore than those of us who are newer fans......